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For my dissertation, I am researching whether pollen diet impacts parasite infection in bees by altering the immune system and gut microbiome. Pollen from sunflowers and goldenrod (Family: Asteraceae) reduce a detrimental gut pathogen in bumble bees (Giacomini et al. 2018, LoCascio et al. 2019). In collaboration with the Sadd Lab, I am investigating how a sunflower pollen diet impacts the bumble bee immune system as a potential driver of the reduced infection. I am also interested in how diet quality and diversity impact pathogen resistance via changes in the gut microbiome. In collaboration with the McFrederick Lab, I am investigating how a diet of sunflower pollen and parasite infection affects bacterial communities within the gut. These two projects are funded by the USDA National Institute of Food & Agriculture.